About CAS

The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) has been the pre-eminent force for promoting standards in student affairs, student services, and student development and higher education programs since its inception in 1979.

The mission of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) is to promote the improvement of programs and services to enhance the quality of student learning and development. CAS is a consortium of professional associations who work collaboratively to develop and promulgate standards and guidelines and to encourage self-assessment.

For the ultimate purpose of fostering and enhancing student learning, development, and achievement and in general to promote good citizenship, CAS continues to create and deliver a dynamic and credible Book of Professional Standards and Guidelines and Self-Assessment Guides that are designed to lead to a host of quality-controlled programs and services. These standards respond to real-time student needs, the requirements of sound pedagogy, and the effective management of 40 functional areas, consistent with institutional missions. Individuals and institutions from more than 35 CAS member organizations comprise a professional constituency of over 100,000 professionals.

CIVSA is proud to have been a member of CAS since 1998.

CIVSA is greatly enhanced and benefited by its collaboration and membership as part of the CAS consortium of over 35 professional associations in higher education.

CAS Membership brings many specific benefits to member associations:

• Influences the regular revision or creation of standards that apply to the CIVSA members and CIVSA functional areas
• Influences the development of each CAS standard (there are 40) with the voice/lens for issues important to CIVSA
• Involves CIVSA members as expert reviewers in related standards
• Educates other associations about the work of CIVSA
• Brings timely information back to CIVSA from 35 other member associations
• Creates a broad professional network of over 35 other member associations allowing the director to connect with projects, initiatives, and policy of those associations
• Connects and reinforces CIVSA members to their student learning and developmental mission
• Establishes CIVSA as an important voice in higher education and student affairs policy and practice
• Ensures a multidisciplinary approach to the development of complex policy in higher education
• Advances professionalism in the practice of student affairs and other functions in higher education. Professionalism specifically relates to the development of standards and promotion of assessment practices across higher education

Each member association appoints a Director and an Alternate Director to the CAS Board. Each association, including CiVSA, has one vote in matters brought before the Board. Standards are approved through consensus decision-making. The nature of the consensus model depends on ongoing trustworthy relationships among Board members. Continuity of membership is essential to facilitate these relationships. The current CIVSA Director to CAS is Matt Weismantel, who has served in this position since 1998 and has become a respected contributor and is now serving his second three year term as a Member-At-Large on the CAS Executive Board.

It was during 1994 that CIVSA first approached CAS for membership and to encourage the development of Campus Information and Visitor Services Standards (CIVS). The CIVS Standards were first approved by the CAS Directors in 2000 and were renewed and approved at the April 2010 CAS Director's Meeting.

CIVSA has been a valuable voice at the table developing standards and bringing the opportunities and concerns of campus information and visitor services to the CAS process for over 12 years.

For further information about CAS, visit www.cas.edu or en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_the_Advancement_of_Standards_in_Higher_Education